1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a spreader bar for supporting the weight of a sailboard user on a line connected to the wishbone boom of a sailboard. More particularly, the invention relates to a spreader bar mountable on a harness worn by a sailboard user and including a rotatable sheave having an open entry for easy engagement or disengagement with the boom line, such that the sheave bar may move freely without friction along the boom line.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has long been known that trapeze harnesses of the type generally used in the sport of sailing may also be used by sailboarders to facilitate gripping the wishbone boom of a sailboard. For use in sailboarding, a trapeze harness is provided with a means for interconnecting the harness with boom lines, i.e., lines tied at their ends at spaced points on the arms of the wishbone boom of a sailboard. Such interconnection means is commonly called a spreader bar since one of its functions is to comfortably spread the weight of the user supported on the boom line around the body of the user. U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,280 discloses a safety hook adapted to be interconnected with a harness that includes a wide contact area for the boom line to prevent winding of the line around the hook. A drawback for this simple hook design is that when the weight of a sailboarder is supported by the line through such a fixed hook, substantial friction arises between the hook and the line as the hook moves along the line. This friction not only causes the line to wear and break unexpectedly, but also reduces the sailboarders' s ability to quickly and easily adjust sail trim in response to wind shifts, changes in board direction, or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,563 discloses a trapeze belt or harness of a type including a boom line hook disposed on a carriage which is laterally displaceable on guide tracks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,617 discloses a board sailing harness including a roller interconnected directly with a sailboard boom rather than to a line tied to a boom such that the possibility of entanglement of the sailboarder with a boom line is removed.
None of the known prior art devices have simply and economically solved the problem of providing a sturdy spreader bar that may be easily engaged and disengaged from a line mounted on a sailboard boom while eliminating wear to the boom line and improving the ability of a sailboarder to adjust sail trim while supporting his weight on a boom line.